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Duncan City Hall
Heritage Restoration
In cooperation with the city of Duncan, BC , Lennox Masonry has now completed the heritage restoration of Duncan's City Hall.
History
Located at the intersection of Kenneth Street and Craig Street, Duncan, BC's city hall is one of just a few remaining heritage masonry structures native to Duncan. It was originally built in 1913 and was utilized as a Federal Building and Post Office until 1958 when the building was no longer in use. In fact, there are still bank vaults remaining on the bottom floor. Unfortunately, due to neglect, the building fell into disrepair and was set for demolition until then Mayor Ken Paskin set out to restore the structure in 1974 with the intention of converting it into a city hall.
Fast forward 50 years later and the masonry components of the city hall, including the sandstone and brick, are in dire need of restoration. And this is where Lennox Masonry's story intersects with the history of a historical landmark!
Vision
The exterior of Duncan's City Hall consists mainly of brick and several bands of sandstone, and both receive a large amount of weathering with each passing year. When the building underwent its major renovation in 1974, the sandstone was painted over to prevent it from eroding any further. Unknown at the time was that using acrylic, latex, and plasticized paints, would only increase the erosion. Masonry needs to breathe as fully and deeply as possible in order to expel moisture and fluctuate with the seasons. Painting stone and brick to prevent further degradation only masks the underlying issues and hampers the masonry from the process of dispelling moisture from within and behind the structure.
Our goal was to facilitate the mortar and the masonry's natural ability to breathe again.
Approach
Lennox Masonry was tasked with removing the existing paint through a very delicate and precise removal method of both blasting and steam cleaning the paint from the surface of the sandstone belts and window frames with low-air and water pressure in combination with shards of dolomite. We then began the process of repointing and restoring the masonry by mixing traditional mortars which consist of quicklime as a binder, as well as patching areas of the sandstone which had significantly eroded over the years. The third phase consisted of applying a traditional lime-wash over the sandstone components in order to help the building breathe once more.
And the final phase entailed steam cleaning the sandstone base of the building with a unique, low-pressure, continuous steam machine. We utilize this machine on heritage and historical masonry buildings and structures, due to its ability to gently clean the dirt and grime from masonry and mortar joints without overly saturating and destroying the stone or brickwork.
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Media
Stay tuned for additional photos and videos which will encapsulate the process of restoring a historical masonry structure in Duncan, BC with Lennox Masonry!